If the message is really go and get vaccinated but then stay at home, what is the point?
– Restaurant owner Alberto Crolla
Alberto Crolla is among the restaurant owners reeling from a wave of cancellations in the wake of the new variant.
He said advice for people to limit socialising at the busiest period of the year has cost his businesses thousands of bookings and tens of thousands of pounds in lost revenue.
Crolla, director and co-owner at the Vittoria group, which runs six restaurants in Edinburgh, said: “We’ve lost around 1,500 seats in party bookings, with maybe another 1,500 in small groups, which were due to visit this month. It’s easily in the
tens of thousands of pounds of lost business.
“After the first minister spoke last Friday, our phones and emails just started going non-stop with cancellations. A lot of that space will never be filled again. We are refunding deposits as we are not holding on to these in the circumstances.
“A lot of food has been thrown in the bin.
“It’s a shame as, after returning to relative normality this year, with people going to football, gyms, bars and restaurants, it seems like hospitality has been singled out for scrutiny.
“The rules are not fair on our staff. Many businesses in our sector have been struggling to get staff because of the situation in the past 18 months and now, in the month most crucial to our businesses, they are having to be told there is no work for them.
“We feel the restaurant sector has been targeted and yetweareverysafe. We have screens and sanitising points in place and we do track and trace. These are sit-down venues, so it’s a very controlled environment.
“Many people are now three-times vaccinated and are being told to stay at home. If the message is ‘go and get your vaccine and then stay at home ’, what’s the point of having a vaccine?”
On Friday, FM Nicola Sturgeon announced the breakdown of a £100 million financial package to support businesses experiencing cancellations. It includes £66m for the hospitality sector, £20m for the culture sector, £8m for food and drink supply chain firms and £3m for the wedding sector. Details on how to apply are expected to be published this week.
But any support will come too late to help more than 26 traders who lost at least £500 each after a last-minute cancellation due to restrictions.
Events organiser Carmen Chalmers says she is down almost £2,000 in marketing and advertising costs for the Support the Makers event in Leith, due to take place yesterday.
“Itwastobethe biggest event in our craft makers’ year and one desperately needed to help them recover,” said Carmen.
“It’s heartbreaking but necessary to cancel and keep everyone safe.”